Sample Ultimate Price

Chapter 1 The Ultimate Price

In 1788 the First Fleet arrived in Australia. The fleet landed in Botany Bay and after it was found the bay was not suitable for the establishment of the new colony, quickly relocated North to Sydney Harbour in the area that had been given the name New South Wales. A large part of the charter of this endeavour was ridding England of its criminals and the setting up of penile colonies in this new land. With this in mind it was inevitable that as this settlement grew the colonists would need a strong, well organised police force.

Very early in the life of new Australia, as colonies were quickly established right around the continent in places that would eventually become states in their own right like Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Also a new settlement on the West coast of Australia named Western Australia and a Territory in the Northern coastal area that would be named the Northern Territory. These areas along with the island on the South East tip of Australia that in time would be called Tasmania, would need a police force to enforce the laws of the new colonies and protect the citizens.

In the early stages of the colonies the military had the responsibility of both protecting the colonies from possible foreign forces and the native aboriginal population as well as enforcing the laws. This would not do and was not sustain- able as a way of getting things done. A police force would need to be raised and trained and put out into these new communities.

New settlers, predominantly from Britain, began to flood into the land and push the boundries of the various colonial establishments further into the interior of the land. There were a mixture of poor settlers, wealthy land owners and mer- chants, freed convicts, escaped convicts, imprisoned convicts, and adventurers as well as the native populations who had themselves colonised the land thousands of years prior to the arrival of the new colonials.

The Americans called their new frontiers the Wild West, they called their mounted criminals outlaws and their indig- enous population, Indians. Australia with its mixed band of a very diverse population was exactly the same except their outlaws were more commonly known as Bush Rangers and the indigenous population were known as natives, soon to be changed to aboriginals.

This was a wild place where murder, revenge killings, rape, horrific crimes against both black and white communities and every manner of more ‘mild’ crime was common place. In these formative years Australia was a very dangerous place to try and exist. The carrying of firearms by the settlers, or a variety of native weapons including spears, clubs and boomerangs was the norm for this melting pot of a new society.

Into this land of common and extreme violence stepped the newly established police force.

The new organisation tasked with trying to establish law, peace and order into this dangerous environment was made up of ex military men, free settlers and quite commonly, released convicts.

It was often poorly trained, poorly equipped with sub standard mounts, (horses), outgunned by Bush rangers armed with better firearms and in general poorly equipped and paid.

In these early years, under such conditions it is a wonder it was able to function to the level of dedication and enthusiasm it on many occasions was able to exhibit.

These first Australian police officers would be placed in deadly danger as a regular part of their duties and tragically many would pay the ultimate price. At the time of writing this book, 758 police officers including native trackers, have been killed in the line of duty.

It would not be long before those first police officers would experience the reality of just how dangerous the job was.